Friday, 16 September 2016

A post-modernist approach to literature

The literary world is riddled with heroes and men and women
with super powers. My books are not
based on such privileged people. I
prefer the integrated perspective for both adult and children’s books.

Would it not be science fantasy if ‘fairy-dust’ from a
distant star were to magically settle down onto the earth and build structures
that would save the world from starvation?
Yet if we replace the distant star with our sun, the fairy-dust with
photons and the structures with plants, do we not already have this magic?

Would it not be a mystical experience to write our own story
of life; to invent the characters we meet and to become super-hero’s in our own
rite? But how much do we really know
about the people we meet and how much is invented by our own minds? How much of our life is spent inside our
minds; a world in which we have total control; a world in which we can become
that sporting or political hero.

Beauty is another magical phenomenon. We decide what is beautiful, but how often do
we compare beauty or ugliness with nature?
....as fresh as a summer morning.... a face like thunder.... Does not nature provide that which our own twilight
lives can only gaze at in awe?

Reading a book or watching a film about super heroes is a
great form of escapism. Reading a book
about real people in real situations has a much deeper impact and tends to
leave the reader with more to think about.
In my children’s books, the main character might spend time as a fish
(for example), but he will not be a fish with super powers.

There is far more beauty, mystery and magic in the world
already, without the need to invent any more.
I write books that examine what we have, rather than things that could
never be.